When Rukawa decided to speak
by jaded-puppet
Summary: During an afternoon of basketball practice, Rukawa Kaede does something quite out of the blue with repercussions far from what he had imagined. A jab at how an old Slam Dunk pairing got together.yaoi.ruhana.
1. Prologue:Rukawa speaks about ?

**When Rukawa decided to speak...**

**Disclaimer: **Slam Dunk belongs to Takehiko Inoue-sensei. I'm just twisting the story for my own evil purposes...

It's a wonder how a few simple words can turn the entire gym of Shohoku from its usually chaotic state -thanks to the shrill cheers of the pompom-wielding Rukawa Brigade by the side, the incessant pounding of round orange basketballs on the gym floor and the habitual skirmishes between a loud redhead and a blue-eyed fox at the center- into complete and utter silence.

It worked better than Akagi's head bashing and Ayako's ominous paper fan -minus all that obvious excruciating pain- and equipped with a little bonus of shock value for all within earshot.

Shocking is maybe more of an understatement.

The words slowly dissipate into the cold deadly silence hanging in the air. For a moment there, almost everyone inside the gym had forgotten to breathe.

Sakuragi Hanamichi feels the rough surface of the orange ball peel away from his fingertips, much like reality slipping farther from his control. It falls with a resounding thud, breaking the silence and proceeding to roll beyond his reach.

"...idiot." The blue-eyed boy finishes, taking no notice of the various reactions inside the gym. He takes one last glance at the redhead before grabbing his bag and heads towards the door.

The gym door swings to a close. No one moves to stop or to follow him.


	2. 1 In which a redhead feels the first wav...

**Disclaimer: **Slam Dunk belongs to Takehiko Inoue-sensei. I'm just twisting the story for my own evil purposes...

**Author's notes**: I give my heartfelt thanks to those who reviewed (bows) and to those who bothered with my story although it was pretty short. Thank you 100x! To nonyaoi fans, sorry to disappoint but like **reality **said this is definitely (cough) (cough) yaoi.

**Chapter 1:** In which a redhead feels the first wave of repercussions...

It had to be a dream, Sakuragi thinks as he almost collapsed behind his desk, catching himself right before his head slams into hard wood, thus avoiding a sure fire way to get a concussion. On second thought... he could use a little memory loss right now.

It wasn't a dream. It was a fucking nightmare.

He could still feel their eyes - those who were at the gym yesterday - boring deeply through him, glaring at him like he was some kind of freak of nature after Rukawa had delivered those _words_. It hadn't been much different from the stares he used to get before and he wasn't the type to care. In those early incidents he had mindlessly assumed that it was because of his 'genius' that people all stare at him with what he dubbed as 'envy' glinting in their eyes. Of course, anyone could easily disprove that frail theory of his if given the chance.

Although Sakuragi was one who hardly ever understands the finer subtleties of human behavior, he also had his moments --rare flashes of insight that needs proper credit. And it was one of those times, him standing in the middle of the court with 30 or so pairs of eyes watching his every reaction, that he realized something big was going to happen that will change his life. Their gazes held mixtures of shock, confusion, anger, and yes, even envy –the kind that he knew he never wanted.

And it's that idiot Rukawa Kaede's fault. Fucking kitsune. If he had just kept his mouth shut like he usually did. It would have been hell of a lot easier if they could just beat the crap out of each other like before. At least he knew he could give as good as he gets and not just simply stand there, like yesterday, in the middle of the court gawking like a fish out of water.

He looks sleepily through the glass windows beside him, inner dialogues running rampant in his brain as he waits for the first period teacher to come. His reflection sports deep dark circles in his eyes caused by lack of sleep last night.

"Oi, Hanamichi!" Another face joins his reflection on the window. Youhei. "Ohayou! You're early today."

"Ohayou." He greets in reply, almost lifelessly. He certainly isn't going to tell Youhei he was early because he had been avoiding someone. Nope, it was an act borne of pure impulse. It had nothing to do with the fear of meeting a particular fox on the way, much less the danger of facing an entire horde of Rukawa's die-hard fans. He is a tensai, dammit! A fearless basketball tensai! Such insignificant things do not concern him!

The redhead turns to face Youhei and the rest of the Sakuragi guntai who crowded beside his desk, smiling like nothing bad had happened within the last 24 hours.

Maybe it wasn't such a big deal, he muses. So far, nothing of the terrible things he had thought would happen had befallen him. He admits things do turn out far from what he imagined them to be. But then again, his imagination isn't that reliable in the first place. He recalls a single occasion wherein he had been dreaming about asking Haruko out on a date...

...Haruko...

His lips settle into a grim line. Sakuragi remembers the dim shadow that had veiled Haruko's face during that incident. She had been hurt. Sweet, gentle Haruko...

"Hanamichi, are you still there?" Takamiya says, tugging his arm in the process to shake him out of his reverie.

"Of course the tensai is still here! Now what was it you were trying to tell me?" He snaps, a bit too loud for people's taste.

Takamiya scratches his shaved head. "We were going to warn you about something but we...uh...kinda forgot what it was." He answers reluctantly.

"Wait, Takamiya. I think I remember!" Noma exclaims, leaning closer to a sleep-deprived Sakuragi. A knowing smile grazes his lips. "It has something to do with Rukawa!"

Ookusu and Takamiya catches on what Noma was leading to, their lips curving into an unmistakable grin.

"Hai. Hai." They nod in synch. Simultaneously, they both open their mouths.

"Hanamichi, by the way, what happened between you two after he-"

"Hanamichi, could there be a possibility you would turn into a hom-"

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

Takamiya, Noma, Youhei and Ookusu fall to the floor, clutching their foreheads racked by waves of pain. Newly formed bumps emerge on their heads, still smoking hot after the onslaught of Sakuragi's head butt.

"Itai! Hanamichi that was harsh!" Noma groans out loud. "We were only teasing, you know."

"Why do you have to include me?? I wasn't saying anything!" Youhei complains. He struggles to get up from his undignified state, only achieving little success.

"And I'm hungry!!" Takamiya interjects. "No wait, that sounds wrong."

All further protests they might have dies as their eyes meet a fuming redhead, standing with feet apart and towering over them with fists shaking in utmost rage.

"I don't care!!! Don't you dare tease the tensai about _that _incident!!! And never ever think I'm-"He pauses for a moment, either hesitating to utter _the_ word or just plain considering any other terms that might be applicable. "...something you think I am!!!" He lamely finishes.

"Maa, Hanamichi, calm down..." Youhei's hand gently clamps down at Sakuragi's uplifted fists and putting it away where it could go nowhere near their faces. Half of it was done in concern, the other half? Well, let's just say the redhead's been getting too much attention for his own good. To prove the point, almost all of the self-proclaimed tensai's classmates were glaring daggers at Youhei and sending him warning glances. _Make him shut up. Make him shut up._

"Stand." The student-in-charge announces, signaling the arrival of their teacher. The Sakuragi army scrambles to their respective seats.

"Bow."

"Sit." How could he expect that the guntai would let him go that easily especially when they were there at the gym when it all happened? Sakuragi thinks as he prepares himself with the prospect of an hour and a half of pure educational torture. At least, he could be thankful that only a handful of people knew all about it, 30 to be precise but still not the whole school. A little teasing from the guntai isn't too much to bear compared to what the whole school would've done about it. He grabs hold of his scarlet locks in frustration. Gah. He thinks too much that he's only getting a headache and it may not be all that worth it. He finally resolves that he should just leave those things alone and focus on basketball.

"Sakuragi Hanamichi!"

The voice pulls him back to reality. "Hai, sensei?"

The teacher sighed. "I just told the class to get their textbooks and turn to page 52. Would you care to join us?"

Sakuragi's hair color seems to spill into his cheeks. "Ah, gomennasai, sensei." He rummages through his bag to find his textbook but quickly remembers he had left the book inside his desk.

He lifts his desk open and then he knew, he knew never to ignore those rare flashes of understanding again.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The redhead lives up to his moniker as the resident loudmouth, letting out a terrified never-ending scream.

"YOUHEI!! NOW I REMEMBER!" Takamiya shouts amidst the redhead's wailing.

"WHAT??" Youhei replies, both hands protecting his ears for dear life.

"WE CAME TO WARN HANAMICHI ABOUT THE DUNGBOMBS PLANTED BY RUKAWA'S FANS INSIDE HIS DESK!" Takamiya answers enthusiastically before scrunching his nose in an act of disgust. "Ewww... that smells..."

"Great going, fatso. It's really helping us now." Murmurs Ookusu, who strains to keep his ears and nose in good working condition.

"WOULD ANYONE IN THE CLASS APPROACH SAKURAGI-KUN AND HELP HIM CALM DOWN?" The teacher calls out to her students, who, in her right mind, know that the chances that she calms down the incorrigible troublemaker was next to nothing. All students stare pointedly at the Sakuragi gundan. Noma, Ookusu and Takamiya, in turn, stare at the innocent Youhei.

"OH, MITO-KUN! HOW WONDERFUL!" Their sensei exclaims.

"Sigh... How come its always me?" Youhei mutters to himself.

**A/N**: What Rukawa said would have to wait for the next chapter...sorry --


	3. 2 Two sides! Sakuragi Hanamichi vs The R...

**Disclaimer:** Slam Dunk belongs to Takehiko Inoue-sensei. I'm just twisting the story for my own evil purposes...

Author's Notes: My thanks to **chelle**, **KanonA**, **Night Strider**, **mistressKC **and **cleo **for spending a bit of their time to review... And also to those who bothered with this fic... ;)

**Chapter 2**: Two sides! Sakuragi Hanamichi vs. The Rukawa Brigade

Run.

Nothing matters but to follow what his primitive instincts tells him. And it was self-preservation. In the dog-eat-dog world of high school, he just happens to be the unfortunate prey.

The hunter?

Hunters might be a more appropriate term.

"Guys, I'll catch you tomorrow or something, okay?" Sakuragi Hanamichi runs pass by his guntai as the last bell for the day rings, a mere flash of red leading a sea of crazed girls.

Fan girls. Rukawa's fan girls. Armed and ready to kill.

"Don't sweat it Hanamichi!" Ookusu calls after him. "Just enjoy the moment! This might be the first and the last time a bunch of girls comes chasing after you!!! Bwahahaha-" His laugh is cut short by a member of Rukawa's shinietai, who breaks away from the crowd and grabs hold of the front of his uniform in a firm grasp.

"You, Blondie." She begins, her chest heaving from breathlessness. She wore a pink cheerleader's outfit, imprinted with a bold KA in the middle. "You never realize how hard it is for us to chase someone who smells THAT bad! This is a sacrifice that we must make to avenge Rukawa-sama! And you..." Her dainty finger points accusingly at Youhei while her nose takes minute sniffs around.

"Take a bath. You smell too." She then returns to her pursuit, leaving three bodies rolling on the floor, laughing.

"Bwahahahahahahahaha! Youhei, I think she likes you!!!" A wheezing Takamiya teases Youhei.

"Yeah, right. Very funny."

* * *

He learned a valuable lesson today. There exist girls who are far more dangerous than Ayako with a paper fan when angry. And they are wielding a very fatal admiration for a certain stupid fox. 

He dodges an egg thrown his way as he makes a left at an empty hallway.

Where the hell do they get all these stuff? He wonders in the midst of racing away from the horde, which was a piece of cake considering he's been known to have strong and powerful legs.

"We will get you Sakuragi Hanamichi!!!! You must be punished!" Someone from the back shouts with full force, then followed by a manic war cry by the rest of the girls.

"Nyahahahahahahahaha! If you think some unexercised Rukawa groupies could catch up to a basketball tensai, think again!!" A rotten tomato narrowly misses his red hair by an inch. "Hey, watch it!"

Although it felt kinda good to be chased by the ladies for once, the entire business of running around and of dodging various grocery items is starting to annoy Sakuragi. And the whiny, grating shouts behind him didn't help matters either. They are just too damn persistent, even for him.

He hadn't seen this one coming. Not even in his hyperactive imagination. He half-expected that there might be a few who'd look at him a little differently. But now with the majority of the female students hunting him down like some wild animal, it finally got through his head that the whole school already knows and not just the measly 30 something he estimated earlier. And they definitely don't want to content themselves with only the looking-at-him-differently part.

It started with the dung bombs, which he triggered himself when he made the mistake of opening his desk to get his textbook. They landed with an irritating splat on him before it became irritatingly stinky too. Things have gone pretty much downhill from there.

"Aren't you getting tired from all this running? Or are you just making an excuse to see how fast a handsome tensai could run? Sorry but I have my eyes only for Haruko! Hehehe..." Sakuragi risks a quick glance at his assailants, only to be hit by a flying spatula in the process.

"We won't forgive you for seducing Rukawa-sama!" That did it, together with the pain of getting hit by a flying spatula.

"N-Nani?! Se-seduced???" The redhead babbles as his comfortable sprint comes to a screeching halt and the evil spatula falls away from his marred face. He turns around and sees the Rukawa Brigade at the forefront of the pack, a few safe meters away from him. Apparently they had stopped running too, red-faced and gasping for air.

"Sneaky bastard." One of them hisses. "You hypnotized Rukawa-san to say those words to you!!!"

_

* * *

_

_It started like any other normal after-school basketball practice, as far as Sakuragi was concerned. _

"_Ore wa tensai!" The redhead shouted right after an orange ball smoothly sailed into the net. His brown eyes immediately searched for a familiar face in the gym, blushing as his gaze clashed with his target's. "Did you see that Haruko-san? Did you see how I stole the ball from Ryocchin? And and and-"_

"_That was great, Sakuragi-kun!" A smile played in the girl's lips and her hands clapped in a gesture of approval. "You're improving!"_

"_Really?" Sakuragi flushed an even deeper red, a goofy grin plastered in his face. Haruko had been noticing his talents! "Of course I'm improving! That was a display of my genius! Nyahahahahahaha!" With his hands to his sides, he proceeded to belt out his trademark laugh._

_Ryota rolled his eyes in irritation as he bent down to pick up the ball. "That was plain luck. Right, Aya-chan?" He looked up at Ayako, expecting a yes from their manageress. Instead, it was the abominable fan that answered him._

"_Concentrate Ryota! If you hadn't kept looking this way every five seconds, you could have perfectly blocked Sakuragi's lay-up."_

"_Nyahahahahahaha! I'm better than you, Ryocchin! Admit it." Sakuragi nudged Ryota with his elbows but in return, only received a menacing glare from the small forward. _

_The laughter was everything Hanamichi: strong, annoying, at times comforting, and undeniably loud. Yet a low crisp voice managed to slash through that resounding cackle. _

"_Do'aho"_

_Silent alarms went off on everybody's heads and they unconsciously started counting down to an inevitable end. In a few moments now, Sakuragi Hanamichi would...3...2-_

"_Teme kitsune!! You dare question this tensai's greatness? I'll show you!" He launched himself right on the blue-eyed fox in a rather interesting form, with every intention of striking fear and terror. But this being used by the redhead appeared every bit as ludicrous. _

_Rukawa, likewise, prepared to deliver as much as Sakuragi could, taking on a fighting stance. But being what he is, well, he simply made it look way cooler than Sakuragi. "Like I said, you're a do'aho."_

_However, before any one of them had laid a hand on each other, a bulky fist came out of nowhere and delivered two solid bashes on their heads. _

"_Get back to practice, both of you! With the IH coming up we can't afford to waste any time!" Akagi Takenori loomed over the fallen pair on the floor, both still preoccupied with rubbing the sore spot on their heads to relieve some of the pain. _

"_Gori, he started it in the first place!" Came Sakuragi's retort, complete with an accusing scowl at Rukawa._

_A nerve pounded dangerously on the captain's head. "What did you just call me?!" By then Ayako and Kogure came to Sakuragi's rescue, holding onto the big mass of flesh which was Akagi to prevent him from making mincemeat of the redhead._

"_Akagi, that's enough. We should calmly continue the practice, ne?" Kogure mumbled to the seething captain._

"_Calmly?" The captain echoed, peeking beneath the throbbing nerves of his forehead while glancing pointedly at the annoying redhead._

"_Hai." The sweating vice-captain nervously agreed._

"_Calmly?" Akagi repeated, now shifting his gaze to the Rukawa Brigade with their nerve-grating high-pitched squeals._

_Kogure felt obligated to agree once more. "H-hai."_

"_Calmly?!" This time when Kogure followed the aim of Akagi's stare, his eyes settled upon Mitsui and the Sakuragi army –fighting over coins of 400 yen's worth and creating such ruckus that everyone turned to watch._

"_You bastards, give me back my 400 yen!!!" Mitsui shouted after the troublesome trio –Noma, Takamiya and Ookusu- who scrambled out of his reach in a second's time._

_Ookusu twisted around and stuck his tongue out at the ace player. "You lost the bet, Mitsui-san. The 400 yen is ours now!" _

"_No shit. How was I supposed to know that the loudmouth had shortened his reaction time towards Rukawa from 3 to 2 seconds?!? Give my money back!"_

_Kogure heaved a sigh. "Okay, I see what you mean."_

_

* * *

_

_After losing 400 yen's worth of change and gaining a raw swelling on the head –thanks to Akagi's infamous bashing- to nurse for the rest of the day, Mitsui searched for something to give vent to his irritation._

_That something was a basketball, which happened to roll by his feet after his encounters with the gorilla kind. He picked it up and proceeded to dribble it with ease before letting it glide in a perfect arc towards the basket. And like most of his three-point shots it went in with a satisfying swish of the net._

_There was also another ball that flew moments after he made his shot. But unlike his, it missed the ring by a clear two inches. Curious, Mitsui glanced sideways, expecting to see an inexperienced first year struggling with his shots. _

_He was right. It was a first year, but hardly the one to be called inexperienced._

_Rukawa ran towards the end of the gym to retrieve his ball._

_Mitsui admitted he was fairly surprised that Rukawa Kaede, one who has a reputation of being a super rookie, missed such a simple shot like that. He wasn't even behind the three-point line! However, the former MVP simply thought none of it and went back to practicing his shooting, thinking that maybe the cause of the freshman's blunder was a mere lack of sleep or some other trivial reason._

_But as shot after shot -released by the blue-eyed lad- failed to even brush the side of the metal hoop, Mitsui knew it wasn't about something trivial anymore. _

* * *

"_Rukawa." Akagi advanced to the rookie's side and took note of the dwindling shots the player made. _

"_Captain?" Rukawa swiveled around and faced him, frustration evident in his generally emotionless features. _

_As the head of the basketball team, he had taken it upon himself to care about the well being of his teammates whether it was the physical or the emotional kind. He just felt a little perturbed that it was Rukawa Kaede who needed that concern. "Is there something wrong, Rukawa?" _

"..." _The boy let his ice blue gaze drop into his hands, right where he held a basketball in place._

"_I've been watching your practices for quite some time and I've noticed-"He paused to ponder on the rest of what he has to say. "...your lack of focus. You've been pretty much distracted these past few days. What's the problem?"_

"_I'm fine." His eyes snapped back up to clash with Akagi's, as cold as his quick dismissal of the captain's question. He then carried on with his own solitary practice, leaving the captain by himself. _

_But an Akagi Takenori wasn't so easily discouraged. "I think it's affecting your play. I've seen how frequently you've been messing up your shots and-"It was with precision timing that a raucous redhead popped into the scene, ears perking up at the sound of any bad news regarding his rival._

"_What's that?! Kitsune has been messing up his shots? Have I heard that right, Gori?"_

_As if dealing with a stubborn and apathetic ace player, who keeps insisting to be okay although it was rather obvious that it was far from it, wasn't enough. Sakuragi had to keep annoying him with his antics. And what the hell did he call him again?_

_Akagi managed to swivel around towards the origin of that familiar voice with a speed that seemed impossible for such a massive body. _

"_Listen you-"_

"_I knew it!" He interrupted him once more, his chocolate brown eyes burning with a fire that was sparked by a taste of victory over his hated enemy. "You couldn't always depend on someone like him, Gori, someone soo foxy looking."_

"_Wait Sakuragi-" However, the self-proclaimed tensai continued with his gibberish, much to the captain's dismay._

"_You don't have to worry about the future of our team even without the measly skills of this fox right here. You still have me, Sakuragi Hanamichi, the basketball genius to depend on! I bet this is who he really is. He'd been pretending for far too long that he's all great and crap but I was the only one smart enough to see right through him!" _

_With renewed determination to make all things right in his part of the world, Akagi allowed his colossal hand to encase the shoulder of the loudmouth in a deadly grip before letting his other fist deliver the ultimate punishment. A sane human being could only take so much._

"_I've had enough of your nonsense!! Now go get a ball, practice, and keep out of other people's business!!!" So horrifying was the captain's bellow that it might have a decent chance of permanently scarring somebody for the rest of his teenage years. Sakuragi, himself, had been sufficiently stunned into picking up a ball. _

_Then again, if Sakuragi had been famous for anything other than his innate loudness and his fiery temper, it would have to be his stubbornness. _

"_Other people's business? It's my rival we're talking about. Of course, it's my business too!"_

_The captain began to anticipate an incoming headache. "Sakuragi, you really don't get it."_

_It was then that the super rookie decided to speak up. He might've grown tired of the two arguing about his problems that he resolved to speak for himself --once and for all. _

"_Do'aho..." Rukawa started, catching the pair's attention. "It's your business alright." _

_His icy gaze was set on the redhead; strengthening the implication that it was Sakuragi he had been referring to and not anybody else._

"_It's because..."_

"_I've fallen for you that I can't concentrate on being no. 1 in Japan!"_

* * *

Good lord. Of all the stuff the stupid fan girls could torture him with. It had to be the memory of that day! 

"It wasn't my fault! I didn't do anything!" Sakuragi shouts, the beginnings of panic creeping through his voice.

A girl in front shakes her head. "Liar! You've been jealous of Rukawa-sama for so long. You created an intricate scheme to taint his reputation. We won't forgive such blasphemy!"

"Huh?!" Sakuragi lifts his hand to scratch his head in confusion amidst the hostility of Rukawa's fan girls. How do these girls come up with that idea? Yes, it is possible that he would do anything to ruin the jerk's name, for the sake of disillusioning his beloved Haruko and maybe even for revenge at making him look like a moron for countless number of occasions.

Nonetheless, if he ever planned on something like that, he wouldn't be as drastic as to make Rukawa fall in love with him and deliberately involve his masculinity as a debatable subject in their school!

As he argues with himself on his next move, his watch beeps to remind him of the passing time. He casts a furtive glance at the device on his wrists before realization sinks in.

"Kuso. I'm gonna be late! Gori's going to be mad..." He half mutters to his watch, then turns to look at Rukawa's fans. "Sorry girls, I've got to attend practice. You can be angry with me later, okay?"

The crowd simply stands there for a minute as they watch Sakuragi jog towards the direction of the gym.

"Hey, he just ditched as for basketball practice." One of them comments while Sakuragi's hair becomes a scarlet blur in the distance.

"Uhuh." The rest of the mob nods.

"We should run after him." Another suggests.

"But we're tired already."

A key member of Rukawa's shinietai, sporting a slightly soiled pink outfit with a RU in front bobs her head to agree. "Yeah, I'm beat."

"He's not going anywhere. He'll be at the gym, practicing."

"Uhuh." The multitude of Rukawa groupies agrees once more.

"Isn't Rukawa-sama at the gym too?" Comes a petite girl's mild interruption.

"!!"

As if rejuvenated by the mere mention of Rukawa's name, the growing Rukawa Brigade immediately disregards their earlier bouts with weariness. "We must protect Rukawa-sama's virtue! Let's go after him!"

* * *

"Grrrr. They won't let me be!!!!" The redhead exclaims, right after he discovers the Rukawa Brigade already hot on his trail--again. The frenzied girls had already crossed his threshold for annoyance a long, long time ago. And if he doesn't do something quick to keep them off his back, he would never get to his basketball practice on time. 

Well, he muses while running, he could head butt each and every one of them into oblivion. But that would take a lot of time and he isn't in a position to waste any. Besides, that would clearly violate his ethics as a gentleman. Haruko would be disappointed in him if he'd do such a deed.

As his options for escape continue to run low, the sight of the gym door -only a short distance away- considerably cheers the redhead but does nothing to eradicate his present problem.

Instead, it made it worse.

"Faster girls! He's getting to the gym door! He's going to violate our Rukawa-sama!"

Sakuragi's speed falters. "Violate?!" He sputters; taking note of his pursuers' firm belief that he is out to transform Rukawa's image from being Shohoku's ice prince/heartthrob into the basketball team's resident homosexual. Not that he wanted it that way. How was he to know that his charms worked on men as well?

Just when Sakuragi resigned himself to his fate of running away almost endlessly for the rest of his high school days, some girl decided to stop the insanity and sets up her short frame as a barricade against the crazy mob.

"S-Stop it! Sakuragi-san doesn't deserve this!" The tremor in her voice betrays her true feelings. Even so she continues to hold her ground, her outstretched arms creating a significant line between Sakuragi and the girls.

"Dare?" Curious, the redhead turns to look, half-expecting to see his precious Haruko. She had been the only one who believed in his abilities. And she's the only one he needs to believe his side of the story now.

It took a minute before he realizes that it is someone else and a minute longer to fish out her name in his memory.

"Anata... Haruko no tomodachi desu ka? Fujii-san?"

"Yes, I'm Haruko's friend. I'm glad you remembered my name." She directs a small shy smile his way. "Now, go get inside. Akagi-sempai's waiting for you."

Sakuragi glances momentarily at the crowd of scary looking fans and feels something cold slither down his spine. "But..."

"Don't worry, I'll hold them off. I can handle them." He very much doubted her word but he has no other choice. This is the only chance he could get to escape the deadly fans.

He hastily bows in gratitude. "T-thanks. Thank you very much Fujii-san!" He proceeds to make his way towards the gym door, the thought of asking Fujii about Haruko's whereabouts casually slips through his mind in his panic for being an hour late for practice.

At the idea of being extremely late, he therefore concludes that Gori would probably kill him.

But before he lets that happen, some blue-eyed kitsune would have to die first.

* * *

"Out of the way, Fujii-san! Let us inside the gym!" 

"N-No." Fujii insists. "Besides, Akagi-sempai had announced that starting today, the gym is off-limits to nonmembers of the basketball team during practice hours."

A longhaired girl belonging to Rukawa's personal cheering squad pushes the petite girl a little far back. "Don't make us hurt you too... You're just protecting that idiot!"

"So what if I am?" She mutters, surprising herself for having gathered the courage to say so. Ever since Haruko had persuaded her sometime ago that Sakuragi isn't as bad as he is rumored to be, she sort of developed an admiration for the redhead's abilities and his fearlessness in doing anything he wants. She felt the sudden need to emulate that part of him, to get rid of her awkward shyness and step away from her friend's shadow to be her own self.

And after witnessing the injustice of Rukawa's fans towards Sakuragi did she first feels the impulse to put into action her resolution into being a stronger person. Now that she understood Haruko's reasons for believing in Sakuragi, her friend will no longer have to bear the burden of protecting his reputation alone.

But it certainly is a bit strange that Haruko didn't join her in stopping the angry mob of fans. Although Haruko had been the chief perpetrator in their plan of rescuing Sakuragi just so he could attend basketball practice, she had contented herself into hiding in the middle of it all and opting to stay away from the redhead's sight.

"It's not Sakuragi's fault if Rukawa-san feels that way about him... Right, Haruko-chan?" Fujii asks in hope for a little bit of support from her friend.

She emerges not far behind, with a rather perplexed look in her features after having recently heard various accounts of that day's event. They all seem to be highly plausible. Somehow, Haruko finds herself taking a side.

"I don't know, Fujii. I'm not so sure either." Opposite and against Sakuragi's.

AN: Next chapter...Sakuragi confronts Rukawa!


End file.
